James Duddridge | |
---|---|
![]() Official portrait, 2020 | |
Minister of State for International Trade | |
In office 8 September 2022 –26 October 2022 | |
Prime Minister | Liz Truss |
Preceded by | Ranil Jayawardena |
Succeeded by | Nigel Huddleston |
Lord Commissioner of the Treasury | |
In office 8 July 2022 –6 September 2022 | |
Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
Preceded by | Michael Tomlinson |
In office 11 May 2010 –4 September 2012 | |
Prime Minister | David Cameron |
Preceded by | Tony Cunningham |
Succeeded by | Robert Goodwill |
Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister | |
In office 8 February 2022 –8 July 2022 | |
Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
Preceded by | Andrew Griffith Sarah Dines |
Succeeded by | Alexander Stafford |
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Africa | |
In office 13 February 2020 –16 September 2021 | |
Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
Preceded by | Andrew Stephenson |
Succeeded by | Vicky Ford |
In office 11 August 2014 –16 July 2016 | |
Prime Minister | David Cameron |
Preceded by | Mark Simmonds |
Succeeded by | Tobias Ellwood |
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union | |
In office 27 July 2019 –31 January 2020 | |
Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
Preceded by | Robin Walker |
Succeeded by | Office abolished |
Member of Parliament for Rochford and Southend East | |
In office 5 May 2005 –30 May 2024 | |
Preceded by | Teddy Taylor |
Succeeded by | Bayo Alaba |
Personal details | |
Born | Bristol,England | 26 August 1971
Political party | Conservative |
Spouse | Katy Thompson |
Alma mater | University of Essex |
Profession | Banker |
Website | jamesduddridge |
Sir James Philip Duddridge, KCMG (born 26 August 1971) is a British politician and former banker. A member of the Conservative Party,he served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rochford and Southend East from 2005 to 2024. Duddridge previously held several ministerial positions under prime ministers David Cameron,Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. [1]
Duddridge first served under David Cameron as a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury from May 2010 to September 2012 and as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Africa at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 2014 to 2016. Following Theresa May’s appointment as Prime Minister in July 2016,he returned to the backbenches.
He was appointed by May’s successor,Boris Johnson,as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union in July 2019,and served in the position until 31 January 2020 when the United Kingdom left the European Union and the office was abolished. Duddridge returned to his former role as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Africa in February 2020 and served in this position until a government reshuffle in September 2021,when he left the government. He later served as a Parliamentary Private Secretary to Johnson from February to July 2022 and as a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury from July 2022 to September 2022.
Duddridge most recently served as Minister of State for International Trade in the Truss government. [2] He left government for a third time in October 2022,when newly appointed prime minister Rishi Sunak dismissed him.
James Duddridge was born on 26 August 1971 in Bristol. He was educated at Crestwood School,Huddersfield High School and The Blue School,Wells. He read Government at the University of Essex.
Duddridge served as Chairman of the Wells Young Conservatives from 1989 until 1991,and was elected Chairman of Essex University's Conservative Association in 1990. In 1991,whilst at university,local Conservative MP Bernard Jenkin appointed him as a researcher.
After graduating in 1993,Duddridge went on to pursue a career in the private sector. He was a banker with Barclays in the City of London and Africa for 10 years,rising to National Sales Director in the Ivory Coast and eventually running the bank's operations in Botswana with a staff of 750 people. He was also a founder member of the polling firm YouGov.
Duddridge stood as the Conservative candidate in Rother Valley at the 2001 general election,coming second with 21.7% of the vote behind the incumbent Labour MP Kevin Barron. [3]
He was subsequently selected as the Conservatives' parliamentary candidate for Rochford and Southend East. At the 2005 general election,Duddridge was elected as MP for Rochford and Southend East with 45.3% of the vote and a majority of 5,490. [4] He delivered his maiden speech in the House of Commons on 9 June 2005. [5]
From 2005 to 2007,Duddridge has served on the Environment,Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee,and the International Development Committee from 2006 to 2008,and in January 2008,he was appointed an Opposition Whip.
At the 2010 general election,Duddridge was re-elected as MP for Rochford and Southend East with an increased vote share of 46.9% and an increased majority of 11,050. [6] [7] After the election,he became a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury (Government Whip) with responsibility for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for Education,but later left government in Prime Minister David Cameron's September 2012 reshuffle.
On 3 December 2010,Duddridge was permitted to reply on HM Government's behalf from the Despatch Box during an Adjournment debate,a rarity as Commons Whips –particularly Government Whips –by convention do not speak in the Chamber. [8]
Duddridge voted in favour of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill at both its second reading in February 2013 [9] and its third reading in May 2013. [10]
Duddridge is seen as highly Eurosceptic,having suggested in 2013 that the Government should tell the European Commissioner to "sod off" rather than pay benefits to Romanians and Bulgarians. [11]
On 11 August 2014,it was announced that Duddridge would return to Government as Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs following the resignation of Mark Simmonds over his claims that he 'could not support his family in London on an MP's salary'. [12]
In September 2014,Duddridge claimed £11,348 for accommodation in London on expenses,mostly for hotels,despite already owning two homes in the city. He stated that his claims were in accordance with the Independent Parliamentary Standards authority. [13] The previous year,it was reported that he had the highest expenses claim of local MPs in Essex. [14] He was accused by Ian Kennedy of pursuing a "squalid vendetta" after he helped block the former head of the Commons expenses watchdog from an appointment to a new job of electoral commissioner in January 2018. [15]
At the 2015 general election,Duddridge was again re-elected,with a decreased vote share of 46.4% and a decreased majority of 9,476. [16] [17]
On 9 February 2017,Duddridge tabled an Early Day Motion following comments made by Commons speaker John Bercow on the subject of the pending state visit of US President Donald Trump. The motion proposed "that this House has no confidence in Mr Speaker", [18] and received criticism from across the house. [19] The bid to remove Bercow as Commons Speaker failed after just five MPs backed Duddridge's motion of no confidence. [20]
Duddridge was again re-elected at the snap 2017 general election,with an increased vote share of 48.7% and a decreased majority of 5,548. [21]
On 27 September 2017, The Times reported that Duddridge,who had been Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Africa until 2016,was being paid £3,300 for eight hours' work a month as a consultant for Brand Communications on top of his MP's salary. The newspaper reported that this had led to renewed calls to review the rules surrounding jobs for former members of government. It was reported that he was working for Brand Communications and that the company was one of a handful that had not agreed to the industry's code of conduct that bans hiring sitting MPs. Duddridge told The Times :"The work I do involves helping companies going into the African marketplace re-brand themselves. It is not a public affairs role." [22]
On 27 July 2019,he was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union in Boris Johnson's administration. [23]
At the 2019 general election,Duddridge was again re-elected,with an increased vote share of 58.7% and an increased majority of 12,286. [24]
On 4 July 2021,he attended the funeral of Kenneth Kaunda as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Africa,and incorrectly identified Kaunda as Zimbabwean rather than Zambian. [25]
On 6 July 2022,following the mass resignation of members of the Johnson government,Duddridge was involved in an on-air argument with Piers Morgan during an appearance on an edition of talkTV's Piers Morgan Uncensored when he refused to answer questions from Morgan. Duddridge had been sent out from 10 Downing Street to speak in defence of Prime Minister Boris Johnson,but while he said he was happy to speak to the channel's political editor,Kate McCann,he refused to take questions from Morgan,claiming his wife would divorce him if he did. This resulted in the presenter labelling him an "impertinent little twerp",with Morgan later describing the moment as his "favourite TV encounter ever". [26]
On 8 July 2022,he was appointed Lord Commissioner of the Treasury,succeeding Michael Tomlinson. [27]
He endorsed Liz Truss in the July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election. [28]
Duddridge was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in the 2022 Political Honours "for political and public service." [29]
In November 2023,he announced he would step down at the 2024 general election. [30]
Duddrige is married with 3 children. [31]
John Simon Bercow is a British former politician who was Speaker of the House of Commons from 2009 to 2019,and Member of Parliament (MP) for Buckingham between 1997 and 2019. A member of the Conservative Party prior to becoming Speaker,he was the first MP since Selwyn Lloyd in 1971 to be elected Speaker without having been a Deputy Speaker. After resigning as Speaker in 2019 and opting not to seek re-election as MP for Buckingham in the 2019 general election,Bercow left Parliament. In 2021,he joined the Labour Party but was suspended in 2022.
Dame Eleanor Fulton Laing,is a British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Epping Forest from 1997 to 2024. She has served in the shadow cabinets of Michael Howard and David Cameron. From 2013 to 2024,Laing served as a Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons;from 2020,as Chairman of Ways and Means,making her the senior Deputy Speaker,and the first woman to hold this post. She has one of the longest tenures in the Speaker's Chair.
Patrick Allen McLoughlin,Baron McLoughlin,is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party,he first became the Member of Parliament (MP) for West Derbyshire following the 1986 by-election. The constituency became the Derbyshire Dales for the 2010 general election;McLoughlin remained the seat's MP until 2019.
Southend East and Rochford is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Bayo Alaba,a member of the Labour Party.
Sir David Anthony Evennett was a Conservative politician. He was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Bexleyheath and Crayford at the 2005 general election. Previously he was the MP for Erith and Crayford between the 1983 and 1997 general elections. He served as Lord Commissioner of the Treasury from September to October 2022. He will retire as an MP at the July 2024 general election.
Anne Frances Milton is a former British politician and lobbyist who served as Minister of State for Skills and Apprenticeships from 2017 to 2019. She was Member of Parliament (MP) for Guildford from 2005 to 2019. Elected as a Conservative,she had the whip removed in September 2019 and subsequently sat as an independent politician.
Stuart James Andrew is a British Conservative politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Daventry since 2024. He was the MP for Pudsey from 2010 until the constituency was abolished before the 2024 general election. He has served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Sport,Tourism,Heritage and Civil Society since September 2022 and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities since October 2022. Andrew previously served as Government Deputy Chief Whip from 2020 to 2022,Minister of State for Housing from February to July 2022,and Minister of State for Prisons and Probation from July to September 2022.
Andrew George Stephenson is a British politician serving as Minister of State for Health and Secondary Care since November 2023. A member of the Conservative Party,he was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Pendle in Lancashire from 2010 until 2024.
Paul Maynard is a British politician who served from 2010 until 2024 as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Blackpool North and Cleveleys. A member of the Conservative Party,he has served Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Pensions since November 2023. He previously as served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice in 2019 and for Transport from 2016 to 2018 and again from 2019 to 2020.
David Henry Rutley is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Macclesfield from 2010 until 2024. A member of the Conservative Party,he was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Americas and Caribbean from October 2022 until the end of his tenure.
Craig Whittaker is a British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Calder Valley from 2010 to 2024. He served as Government Deputy Chief Whip and Treasurer of the Household from September to October 2022. He previously served as a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury from January 2018 to April 2019 and again from July to September 2022.
Gareth Alan Johnson is a British politician and former lawyer who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dartford from 2010 to 2024. A member of the Conservative party,he served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Courts from September to October 2022 in the Truss ministry. Johnson previously served as a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury from February to September 2022 and Assistant Government Whip from 2018 to 2019 and 2021 to 2022.
Scott Leslie Mann is a former British Conservative politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Cornwall from 2015 to 2024. He currently serves as a Government Whip. He served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Growth and Rural Affairs from September to October 2022. Between 2009 and 2016 he represented the Wadebridge West ward on Cornwall Council.
Wendy Morton is a British politician who served as Chief Whip of the House of Commons and Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury from September to October 2022. A member of the Conservative Party,she has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aldridge-Brownhills since 2015.
William James Quince is a British Conservative Party politician and former lawyer who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Colchester from 2015 to 2024. Quince was also Minister of State for Health and Secondary Care from September 2022 to November 2023.
Miriam Jane Alice Davies,known as Mims Davies,is a British Conservative Party politician who has served as a Member of Parliament since 2015,for three successive constituencies. She has served as Minister of State for Disabled People,Health and Work since December 2023. She previously served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Social Mobility,Youth and Progression from October 2022 to December 2023 and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding from September to October 2022.
Stephen Daniel Double is a British Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for St Austell and Newquay from 2015 until 2024 when he was defeated in the 2024 United Kingdom general election by Labour candidate Noah Law. He served as a junior Lord Commissioner of the Treasury from 28 October 2022 to 13 November 2023.
Joyce Rebekah "Joy" Morrissey is an American-born British Conservative politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Beaconsfield since 2019. She was a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury from November 2023 until July 2024.
On 3 September 2019,the British Conservative Party withdrew the whip from 21 of its MPs who had supported an emergency motion to allow the House of Commons to undertake proceedings on the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill on 4 September. In the hours after the vote,the Chief Whip Mark Spencer informed the rebel MPs that they were no longer entitled to sit as Conservatives. This led to the loss of the Conservative/DUP majority in the Commons.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)